


Family Business

by Valaks



Category: Alex Rider - Anthony Horowitz
Genre: Alex Rider Sort of Catches a Break, Crack Taken Semi Seriously, Fluff, Flufftember, Gen, Julia Rothman thinks she’s so clever calling John “Hunter”, Luck of the Devil Strikes Again
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-05
Updated: 2020-09-05
Packaged: 2021-03-06 16:08:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26301691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valaks/pseuds/Valaks
Summary: Alex always thought he was going into the family business when he “joined” MI6 but there’s a much older one that Ian and John ran away from. The Riders are well known for being spies but the Hunts have a reputation too...........“And Alex went to Malagosto.” Mr. Hunt preened“I uh….didn’t finish….”“What he doesn’t tell you is that he didn’t graduate because he started on his mission to singlehandedly take down the entire organization all because they rigged his examination.”There were pleased and interested murmurs around the table.“And, of course, my boy succeeded.” He sounded so proud that Alex didn’t have the heart to correct him.
Comments: 8
Kudos: 137
Collections: AR Flufftember 2020





	Family Business

Alex didn’t expect much out of MI6. Through painful experience he had concluded that they were an amoral entity content to exploit whatever was put in front of them allegedly for Queen and Country. For every “never again, Alex” there was another mission file with his name to be sent on or lured into depending on their whims. Jones’ promise that he was done had rang hollow to him even in his mind numbing shock and grief. Apparently this promise hadn’t even made it an hour. 

He and Mr. Pleasure had been accosted by two men before they even entered the Heathrow and informed that Alex needed to be removed to a safe house at once. He even bothered to protest as he was escorted into a sleek black car, a good deal nicer than what he was used to with MI6 but maybe Jones’ way of apology. Their relationship was strange enough that he wouldn’t let it past her. 

He expected to be taken back to Liverpool street or some dingy safe house until whatever ‘threat’ real or imagined could pass. He did not expect to be taken to a thoroughly secured manor in Surrey searched and then brought into an old fashioned wood paneled office that he felt like he had seen a million times over between Sayle and Grief, and D’Arc.

Behind the desk was an older man in his 60s with a full head of gray hair and sharp brown eyes, he looked oddly familiar but Alex couldn’t place where. “Ethan Hunt” the man said by way of introduction. Oh fuck. Alex knee that name. The Hunt Crime Syndicate was well known “too big to bring down” according to the metropolitan police. A truly nasty piece of work and one that had hauled him out from under Jones’ nose to face him. He should be more terrified but all he could think was “what now?”

“Alex Rider” he reluctantly reciprocated and took the seat that the man gestured for him. 

“I’ve heard a lot about you recently Alex, most pressingly that you find yourself in need of a guardian.” 

His eyes narrowed, not another madman wanting him as a son. No. He wasn’t doing it again. “I doubt that bringing in an orphan would do anything for your image.”

The man smiled darkly back “No, it wouldn’t but you are hardly an orphan, Alex.”

“News to me.” He huffed

“I imagine it would be. Ian and John would have seen to that, MI6 too. Best kept secret in Britain now, but back 20 years ago the Hunt boys running off and turning straight was practically front page news. Very embarrassing.” 

He was lying, was Alex’s immediate thought but there was no indication from the man that he was. Then again Hunt had probably mastered hiding tells. He settled for studying the man suddenly finding very familiar features - the cut of his jaw, the shape of his eyes which were, incidentally, the same brown color as Alex’s own, Ian’s cleft chin and dimples. Oh  _ fuck _ . “So I’m here for revenge on my Dad?”

“No, revenge is only useful if it sends a message.” Cold and calculating but what did he honestly expect? “No, you’re here because you’ve become a problem. Up until now you were shielded by Ian and MI6 and your anonymity but word has gotten out about SCORPIA. People will look into it to see who was behind it and see a 15 year old, the same one that dealt them a blow with that virus shit. But now that you’ve hit them a second time they will look closer and come to the same conclusion that I did - that you are the son of John Hunt and they will want you - either to use you for your skills or use you as bait against me” 

Great. He was a loose end. That always went so well. “So you brought me here to kill me? Seems excessive.”

Hunt smiled grimly “I’ve spent more to send lesser messages.”

Fair enough. 

“Lucky for you, you are far more useful alive than dead.”

Alex narrowed his eyes “I don’t like to be used.” 

“There are not many who would talk to me so boldly.” There wasn’t a threat there, just an observation. “As for being used, you won’t be.” Alex had heard that before, it must have shown “I run a criminal empire, Alex, I don’t have the need for a child, even one of your skills. Unless they’re drug runners or dealers, I use adults” and the kids probably have a choice, a shitty one but a choice. Unlike Alex. Sure said a lot about MI6.

“So why am I here then? You don’t strike me as the ‘family reunion’ type.”

“They said you were smart” he acknowledged, Alex privately thought that he had dealt with enough criminals wanting their way that he had gotten used to it. It went unsaid, though, because Hunt struck him as smart as well - smart enough to realize that Alex was far less dangerous dead and he had every motivation and skill to carry it out. “I am not altruistic, Alex. I am just as ruthless as you can imagine but I am pragmatic - you want out of MI6 and a chance of normality. You will have everything at your disposal to do so. In exchange, you stay out of my way and out of the hands of MI6 and anyone else who might seek to use you against me.” 

Seemed like a shite deal for Hunt and the man didn’t strike him as the type to take those. “What do you get out of it?” He demanded 

The man nodded, something unreadable shifting in his expression “Definitely a Hunt.” It wasn’t directed at Alex but that didn’t mean he didn’t hear it “I get bragging rights. We get to claim that a Hunt took down SCORPIA which implies I have an heir capable of doing such a thing and, of course, I get to say that I took MI6s toy away.”

He should be offended, really should, but after a year of being passed around and played with by governments and psychopaths, he didn’t think that it was all that incorrect of a descriptor.

“I can’t imagine they don’t already know I’m here.” He pointed out

“I would be disappointed if they didn’t.”

“You’re not afraid they’ll come for you? Kidnapping would stick pretty easily.” From what he had heard the government would love to pin something, anything on Hunt but the man didn’t even have a parking ticket in his name. 

“They’ve tried but they’re not stupid enough to open this can of worms” Alex was surprised, kidnapping a teen seemed like a pretty solid case to him. Hunt hadn’t been there but if they were related it wouldn’t be too hard for MI6 or 5 to track him here and make the arrest. “I know you have a low opinion of the government, one of your more appealing traits I might add, but even they aren’t stupid enough to try and take any kind of claim over you public. There is quite a bit of evidence of your time with MI6, Mr. Bulman has been very helpful in that regard.”

Alex winced at the name then pushed it aside to refocus “So, what, I’m a prisoner, then?”

“No, you can leave right now. I won’t kill you but I won’t lift a finger to help you either. You get caught by your enemies or mine and I’m not buying you out of it.”

“And if I stay?”

“Rules are pretty simple don’t be a fuck up, don’t get caught, and don’t turn against me. Your only real job besides keeping up appearances is to make Maria, my wife and your grandmother happy. You do what she wants and come to dinner parties and pretend like we get along fine. That’s it. You stay away from my business and I’ll stay out of yours. Only exception is if someone gets an itchy trigger finger around you and starts threatening you, then you come to me. It’d upset Maria if she found out and I think I’ve made it clear what your job is.”

Alex mulled it over. Being the grandson of a crime lord wasn’t the best news he had ever received but normality had apparently never been in the cards for him and he probably should have gotten used to that by now. 

If what Hunt was saying was true the going with the Pleasures wouldn’t be safe for any of them. Alex had little faith in MI6 or the CIAs desire to look after a former asset no matter how many favors they owed him. And while Alex has largely taken out his enemies there would be those who wanted revenge. Being a Hunt would only complicate that further.

Dragging the Pleasures into his life hadn’t been ideal in the first place, it was more a stop gap he had latched onto in order to prevent being given a worse option, like Crawley. Besides, even if he did evade some kind of attack it would only be a matter of time before Byrne it Jones pulled him back in. They might try to turn him against Hunt but the man had the resources to turn them away. The 14 year old part of him that wanted him to do the right thing had largely been silenced over the last year. Jack’s death had apparently finished the job because all he could think right now was that he had done more than his part to save the world and he deserved a free ticket and a guaranteed protection from MI6, even if it was from the head of a crime family. Especially when he wasn’t going to asked to do anything shady to get. 

He would be stupid not to take the opportunity - an education, all the money in the world at his finger tips, almost guaranteed safety and all Hunt wanted was for him to make his wife happy - no crime, no missions, just tedious parties and bridge club at the worst. That was all assuming Maria liked him because it had quickly become obvious that she was the real impetus behind the whole thing. 

“What if she doesn’t like me?”

“Then I drop you off in London and let MI6 deal with you. She makes her mind up pretty quick about these kind of things. If it makes you feel any better, your odds of success at winning her over are high. John and Ian were her world; she was crushed when they left.”

“Does she know what happened?”

“She thinks John was killed in prison by a rival gang after that bullshit story ‘6 made up to get him into SCORPIA and thinks Ian died in service which isn’t actually wrong. You’ll stick to those stories. Only thing she didn’t know was that John had a kid and that Ian raised you. She won’t be thrilled that we just left you but having you back will soften that blow.”

“Any other kids running around? I don’t want to deal with getting knifed in the back because someone gets paranoid that I want to take over the business when they find out about me.”

“By the time John and Ian ran off it wasn’t feasible. Other than that, I’ll handle anyone getting ideas about you coming in to take over if you decide to stay.” He paused and took Alex in “I don’t know if you have any morals left after the shit they put you through but if you do I imagine my business doesn’t really match up with it. You have my word that I’ll keep you out of it. You’re just here for bragging rights, to keep me from having to deal with people trying to get one over on me and keeping Maria happy. I’m not asking you to like it. You want to think about it as a mission or cover or whatever fine by me so long as you are able to be convincing enough to fool Maria. But between you and me you’re getting a chance people would kill for and it’s not like you have a lot of options anyways.”  


He wasn't wrong 

“Fine.” 

“Good, let’s go let Maria know she has a grandson.” 


End file.
